Editors’ Summary of the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity – 1981 No 2

William C. Brainard and

WCB

William C. Brainard

George L. Perry

George L. Perry Senior Fellow Emeritus - Economic Studies

THIS ISSUE of Brookings Papers on Economic Activity contains articles
and reports presented at the thirty-second conference of the Brookings
Panel on Economic Activity, which was held in Washington, D.C., on
September 17 and 18, 1981. Two articles focus on inflation, attempting
both to illuminate our understanding of economic performance during the
past fifteen years and to evaluate some alternative theoretical models of
inflation. A third article examines one important attempt to end inflation:
the economic policies of Mrs. Thatcher’s Conservative government in the
United Kingdom. A fourth article presents a new analysis of inventory
fluctuations. A short report in this issue examines the debt of less-developed
countries; a second analyzes the uncertainty surrounding monthly
unemployment statistics.